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Marylanders Fired Up Over Wisconsin Strike

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) –The actions in Wisconsin struck a raw nerve with union members nationwide who showed up to protest from the East Coast to the West.

Suzanne Collins reports.

About 300 union members, teachers and other public employees and supporters rallied in Lawyers Mall outside the Maryland State House Saturday.

They wore cheeseheads and held an American flag in support of Wisconsin employees.

The rally was organized by a group called Moveon.org which believes eliminating a worker’s right to collective bargaining in Wisconsin is an attack on all working people.

In Wisconsin, the governor’s proposal would bar public unions from bargaining for a salary increase higher than the rise in cost of living and it would increase workers’ contributions to healthcare and pensions.

“They’re feeling this is the way to balance the budget , to take away the rights of people to negotiate with their employers collectively…well, this is a right all American workers should have,” said one protester.

The woman who organized the Annapolis rally says the conservatives were getting too much face time and it was time for workers to speak out.